As host city of the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games, Kamloops has welcomed a lot of people.

For a member of the Team Yukon mission team, it's a home coming of sorts.

Tracey Bilsky is the executive director of Sport Yukon, but she is better known in the Kamloops area as being the Athletic Director at the then University College of the Cariboo, from 1995 to 2001.

"It's been nostalgic and emotional too,” Bilsky said about returning to the now Thompson Rivers University Campus.

"It is such a beautiful campus and it's grown so much. It's my first time seeing the Tournament Capital Center. Clearly time has marched on and in the right direction. It has sure made me miss Kamloops.”

Bilsky is quick to answer the question of what was her fondest memory at UCC/TRU.

"Most of them occurred at the old gym. The Athletes lounge. Whether the kid was from Williams Lake or Cranbrook, they all came together and hung out. They truly formed as a family. I enjoyed knowing how they were doing in school and their accomplishments.”

She also remembers working with the likes of gym attendant Deanna Ries and athletic assistant Jon Shephard, who still occupy those positions today.

On the field, Bilsky is quick to point out working with the late Mike Bartam was an honor and she'll always remember the Sun Demons team which won the Canadian College Athletic Association women's soccer championship in 1999.

At the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games, she is acting as the sport psychologist, a discipline in which she holds a Masters Degree. In fact, she is the only sport psychologist in the Yukon.

"I work with a lot of athletes. For this week of the Games, being here for them is my role.”

Bilsky met with Team Yukon's badminton team after their first matches on Thursday and will visit the volleyball team in the morning.

She has been involved with athletes of different ages for decades.

Have athletes changed over the years?

"Athletes are some of my favourite people,” she said. "The life skills athletes learn through sport can be invaluable to their development as a person, such as leadership, taking instruction, dealing with success, as well as coping with adversity and failure.

"It can be difficult to find another avenue in life to practice those skills as you can through involvement in sport. So do I see much of a difference between athletes I knew 10 years ago, and those I know now? No.

The ones who are passionate about their sport nowadays have exactly the same traits as those who were passionate about their sport then. They are strong, driven people, and I'm fortunate to be working with them still.”

Even though she lives thousands of miles away, UCC/TRU is still close to Bilsky's heart.

"Through my friend Katherine Sutherland, we have developed a partnership between Yukon College and TRU. Our kids can stay home for the first two years and then transfer to Thompson Rivers.”

To help promote TRU to the Yukon athletes at the Games, each of them got a gift certificate to the TRU Bookstore.

"A lot of them have bought a souvenir,” she said. "And with the weather we have been having this week, I know many of these 16 year old athletes are looking hard at coming here as a place to study. TRU is not intimidating and has a ‘small town' feel, which is a good transition for young people wanting to get an education.”

– Article submitted by Larry Read, media chair for the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games